The term Umami, from the Japanese word to describe savory or meaty, is the term used to describe the unique overall fullness, savory or salivatory taste of food. Materials that exhibit this taste quality generally potentate the intensity of glutamate solutions and this is one important characteristic of umami taste. It is increasingly becoming recognized as the fifth sense of taste, the others being sour, sweet, salt and bitter. Compounds traditionally described as possessing this character are monosodium glutamate (MSG), protein hydrolysates, some amino acids and certain nucleotides and phosphates.
MSG is the most widely used material as a ‘taste enhancer’ where it synergizes the perception of ‘savory’ ingredients, but has also been alleged to cause allergic reaction to a proportion of the population.
Among other chemical compounds, several nucleotides have also been described to exhibit the umami effect including Adenosine 5′-(trihydrogen diphosphate), 5′-Cytidylic acid (5′-CMP), 5′-Uridylic acid (5′-UMP), 5′-Adenylic acid (5′-AMP), 5′-Guanylic acid (5′-GMP), 5′-Inosinic acid (5′-IMP) and the di-sodium salts of 5′-Guanylic acid and 5′-Inosinic acid.
Recent literature cites an extensive range of other organic compounds as taste active components of mixtures shown to give the umami taste effect. These include but are not necessarily limited to: organic acids such as succinic acid, lactic acid, saturated straight chain aliphatic acids of six, eight, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen carbon chain lengths, Z4,Z7, Z10,Z13,Z16,Z19-docosahexaenoic acid, Z5,Z8,Z11,Z14,Z17-eicosapentaenoic acid, Z9,Z12, Z16, Z19-octadecadienoic acid, Z9-octadecenoic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, suberic acid, and malonic acid. Amino acids having umami effects reported in the literature include glutamic acid, aspartic acid, threonine, alanine, valine, histidine, praline, tyrosine, cystine, methionine, pyroglutamic acid, leucine, lycine, and glycine. Dipeptides possessing umami properties include Val-Glu and Glu-Asp.
Other miscellaneous compounds having umami properties include alpha-amino adipic acid, malic acid, alpha-aminobutyric acid, alpha-aminoisobutyric acid, E2,E4-hexadienal, E2,E4-heptadienal, E2,E4-octadienal, E2,E4-decadienal, Z4-heptenal, E2,Z6-nonadienal, methional, E3,E5-octadien-2-one, 1,6-hexanediamine, tetramethylpyrazine, trimethylpyrazine, cis-6-dodecen-4-olide, glutamate glycoconjugates, fish sauce blended with anchovy paste (U.S. Patent Application 2003/0142090) and a number of naturally occurring amino-acids.
Additionally, a variety of molecules are known by those skilled in the art to provide salt enhancement, these include but are not limited to Adenosine 5′-(trihydrogen diphosphate), 5′-Cytidylic acid (5′-CMP), 5′-Uridylic acid (5′-UMP), 5′-Adenylic acid (5′-AMP), 5′-Guanylic acid (5′-GMP), 5′-Inosinic acid (5′-IMP) and the di-sodium salts of 5′-Guanylic acid and 5′-Inosinic acid, (+)-(S)-Alapyridaine (chemical name N-(1-Carboxyethyl)-6-hydroxymethyl pyridinium-3-ol), succinic acid, cetylpyridium chloride, bretylium tosylate, various polypeptides, mixtures of calcium salts of ascorbic acid, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, arginine ammonium chloride, alpha-amino acids and their corresponding hydrogen chloride, ammonium and sodium salts and a number of natural plant extracts. Uses of these materials are described in various U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,997,672; 5,288,510; 6,541,050, U.S. Patent Application 2003/0091721 and Eur. Pat. Appl. 2003/1291342.
Additionally, choline chloride has been shown to enhance salt and increase palatability of sodium chloride reduced systems (Physiol Behav. 1994, 55(6), 1039-1046).
In addition to this work, our work has included the identification of new flavor materials described in U.S. Ser. No. 10/919,631 filed on Aug. 17, 2004; U.S. Ser. No. 10/861,751 filed on Jun. 4, 2004; and U.S. Ser. No. 10/783,652 filed Feb. 20, 2004.
Despite these disclosures there is an ongoing need for new flavor ingredients particularly those that exhibit advantageous properties for flavor enhancement or modulation, or more preferably the lowering of MSG and/or salt levels in foodstuffs.